Brian Chasnoff: All You Need is Love … and Baby Wipes

In a world where grown men and women will shake, smack or otherwise neglect their own infants, it’s refreshing to note that the pendulum of human behavior swings wide the other way.

Case in point: the outpouring of generosity that has flowed from the kindness of strangers into the needy home of Sylvia Garcia, who about two weeks ago gained temporary custody of her twin grandsons after their parents were arrested and each charged with two counts of injury to a child. The boys — Jason and Jacob — were suffering from a host of ailments, including severe starvation, anemia and developmental delay.

A recent visit to the Garcia’s West Side household revealed a bounty of gifts such as cribs, swings, diapers, wet wipes, clothes, bassinets, a rocking chair, stuffed animals and bottles of baby lotion, to name only some. A local remodeling company has offered to refurbish the Garcias’ garage so her teenage sons can move in, thereby opening extra space in the house for the infants. Even San Antonio police officers have stopped by — a visit that made Sylvia nervous until the cops popped their trunks and hauled out packages of Pampers.

People from places as far flung as San Angelo, Boerne, Seguin, Port Lavaca and Arlington have made donations, and a fund opened for the infants has swelled to $1,300 and growing, Garcia said.

The boys are growing as well. Although they continue to struggle with developmental delays, Jason and Jacob are eating regularly and gaining weight. They appear alert and curious, and Garcia said they smile and play often. The tiny brothers also insist — in that wordless yet especially convincing way only infants can muster — on sleeping together in the same crib.

The family still has needs. Garcia, a cook at an elementary school, must return to work August 18, and the family cannot afford day care. Garcia said an investigator with Child Protective Services earlier had promised her free day care, but the agency has not returned repeated phone calls. Garcia, who owns a sedan, also could use a bigger vehicle to cart around her expanding family (two teenage sons, a daughter and two other grandchildren).

But she and her husband are grateful for those gifts that have transformed the strains of a tragedy into a story that now resounds with hope.

Anyone else who wants to help may call Sylvia Garcia at (210) 432-1588.